The disjuncture between ‘what we do’ and ‘what we say we do’ has contributed not only to a great deal of conversation and debate it has also lead to a fair amount of angst and misunderstanding in archaeology (i.e. theory/practice split or the homebase/field bifurcation). Many (myself included) firmly believe that this disjuncture can only…
reviews and commentaries
Deprivation through ‘dialectics’: Why some archaeologist’s are hamstrung by things and why things are hamstrung by some archaeologists
Over the last few weeks I have been causally reading through the various chapters in a recent book edited by Elizabeth DeMarrais, Chris Gosden and Colin Renfrew entitled Rethinking materiality: The engagement of mind with the material world (2004). The book, the material product of a symposium with the same title held in March 2003…
Symmetrical Archaeology at Society for American Archaeology (SAA’s) in Puerto Rico
The second installment of A Symmetrical Archaeology was organized as a full session at the Society for American Archaeology at San Juan, Puerto Rico (April 26-30th). Organized by Timothy Webmoor with Bjørnar Olsen, Michael Shanks, and Christopher Witmore, the session brought together an international and trans-disciplinary group of thinkers to present a Manifesto for Symmetry…
Donna Haraway, Richard Rorty, Isabelle Stengers in conversation on Whitehead and Science and Technology @ Stanford
A panel of eminent scholars came together to discuss Alfred Whitehead’s relevance to current issues in science studies, technoscience and pragmatism. Beginning with Isabelle Stengers’ recent work on “Penser avec Whitehead”, the panel discussed the role of Whithead’s ‘propositions’ for facilitating non-reductive modes of understanding ‘common matters of concern’ in the sciences. Stengers and Haraway…
A Symmetrical Archaeology at Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Sheffield, UK
The first installment of A Symmetrical Archaeology was organized as a full session at the TAG gathering in Sheffield, UK (December 19-21). Organized by Bjornar Olsen, Michael Shanks, Timothy Webmoor and Christopher Witmore – spearheaded by Chris – the session brought together an international and trans-disciplinary group of thinkers to present a Manifesto for Symmetry…